gen:ARC
by Jss2141
Summary: What if instead of a Union spy, another person was chosen for the gen:LOCK program? One, though rather ordinary, would be a good help to the team? Slight AU, gen:LOCK Jaune I do not own gen:LOCK or RWBY Rated T for moderate language.
1. The Beginning

**(Here we go! Hope you enjoy.)**

(Jaune's POV)

War has been going on for as long as I can remember, it was something I thought I'd always fight in and help win. That was part of my dream, to help others and be like a hero I heard about in old fairy tales or the stories my father told me about our Arc ancestors. I know it would be heard and my life would be in constant danger, but I didn't care as long as I could at least give a helping hand. That was my dream and I wanted it more than anything, so I worked hard for it. I did all I could to get the best grades, I exercised as best as I could manage, and no matter how tired I was from studying or working out, I kept my dream in mind as my goal. My family did their to support me, my father helped me train since he was a retired war veteran, my mom always patched me up when I got serious injuries from my training, and my 7 older sisters; yes I said 7 older sisters; gave me moral support and cheered me on as they either still live at home, lived nearby or lived in another state. Life was pretty good and I had everything I could've asked for...until a certain event changed everything and made my dream almost nonexistent.

-Flashback: 2068, New York-

(Jaune's POV)

It was a shinning day on the streets of New York and everything was as it should be. People were enjoying their days, cars were zooming all around, and the sunset was giving off it's golden shine as always. It wasn't out of the usual as I, at the age of 13 years old, was walking down the street from my usual self defense class, caring a white duffel bag on my back. My blond hair was a bit shaggy as the wind blew through it, but it didn't bother me. I liked it. I was wearing a white t-shirt, a black zip up hoodie, blue jeans, and black shoes, a pretty normal attire for someone my age. I remembered walking home with a smile on my face, feeling rather good after my lesson and the shower that followed. I felt nothing could ruin this feeling, not a single thing as I walked up to his home and took out the house key.

"I'm home!" I yelled as I stepped into the door, meeting the delicious smell of dinner.

"Welcome home, Jaune!" mom said from the kitchen, preparing dinner. "How was your class?"

"It was good, got a few bruises but the first aid kit there was able to patch me up!" I answered as I walked into the living room, seeing his dad watching TV and two of my sisters sitting at his sides.

"Hey, sport! Glad to see you made it home!" dad said as he turned his head to me, giving me a smile.

"Hey, dad!" I said as he walked to the couch and placed my bag down by it. "Nice to see your home from work early."

"You kidding? It's meatloaf night! I'd be a fool to miss this!" Dad said, smiling widely to express how much he loved mom's meatloaf.

I could relate but I didn't show it as I chuckled a bit at this before mom let out a whistle, signalling on thing to the entire house.

"Dinner's ready! Come and get it!" she said as 3 pairs of foot steps, 2 sisters were visiting and one lived here, could be heard rushing down the steps.

I had to rush as well if I wanted to get a good seat and get a good piece of mom's meatloaf. Once everyone was at the table and dinner began, it was chaotic as usual. Everyone was nearly talking over each other, telling everyone about their days or the business they had done at the same time. It was nearly incomprehensible, but that what I came to expect and came to love. Everything was going fine until a siren was heard, silencing everyone in the house. Confused by this, I got up from my chair and went to the living room bay window, gazing outside to see strange clouds of moving smoke and people coming out of their homes to run.

"Guys, something's going on!" I shouted as I turned my head, seeing my family jump from their seat to join me by the window.

The one with the biggest reaction from the gasps and looks of fear was dad as his face hardened, scaring me a bit because he was never this serious before.

"We need to leave." he said, confusing me.

"Leave? But why, dad?" I asked, not knowing what was happening.

"We need to leave, now! New York is under attack, we need to go!" Dad said in a shout, something that scared me since he never liked to shout at us.

It was then we all began to move fast out of our home and through the city, dad leading us at the front. I didn't know how long we ran but as we did I could see why, soldiers in strange body armor with giant mechanical spider were moving through the city and shooting nearly anyone in sight. I was old enough to know what this was, it was an invasion by the Union, they were trying to take New York and it was something they was trying to be stopped by both the military and the NYPD. I was so scared and I wanted it to end, but it wasn't that easy as just wanting it. We continued to move until we found a crowd of people surrounding an escape transport, hoping to get in and get away but failing. Dad lead us through the crowd, pushing my sisters and I to the front so we could board before them or at least that's what I thought. Because when my sisters and I got on the transport, I turned back wanting to see my mom and dad enter behind us but they didn't as the transport was about to take off.

"No." I said as I shook my head, turning around to head to the entrance but was stopped by the solider standing by the door. "NO! MOM, DAD!"

I tried to reach for them, wanting them to take my hand but they didn't reach for me like I did for them. They just stood there and gave somber smiles to me as the door closed, the transport finally taking off.

-End of flashback-

That was the last time I ever saw my parents, the last time I could enjoy mom's cooking and dad's smiling face. The next four years after that, I was taken in by my sister, Saphron, and lived with her and her wife, Terra. It was fine, I continued to study and live my life but the only thing different was that my sister refused to let me pursue my dream. I knew she was trying to keep me safe but it was almost smothering, always worrying and hovering over me as I grew up as if I'd break like glass if I just fell down. Even if she did smother and hover, I still manage to sneak past her and continue my self defense classes, getting as strong as I could to become a soldier and help stop the Union. To help with this, I even manage t apply for early entrance to the Polity military after high school and it was set in stone, all I had to do was wait. Though when I did this, I didn't expect it a week after I graduated. It was a letter saying I had been picked for a special unit, one that was unlike any I had researched before hand called gen:LOCK. I didn't know what it was or if it was just a new form of rejection letter but I wouldn't get answers just by questioning it, so I packed my things, dealt with the MASSIVE reaction from my sisters when they found out, and went to the given location for pick up. I didn't know what I was getting myself into but I just had a feeling that it would lead to greatness.


	2. The Select Few

**(Thank you to those how followed, faved, and reviewed. I hope you grow to like this and what I have planned for it.)**

**Reminders, warnings, and notices: **

**1\. If you have not seen the series, gen:LOCK, please watch it before reading this.**

**2\. This will may not be following all of the original scenes from the show but it will include some original ones.**

**3\. This chapter will take place in episode 2.**

* * *

It was a bright and shinning day as Jaune waited for the Polity aircraft to take him to whatever base he would be stationed at for this new unit, the gen:LOCK unit. It honestly made him a little nervous, but when doing something as big as this in life, like going to school for the first time or heading to a college, it's natural to have jitters about something life changing.

'I wonder if there will be anyone my age.' Jaune thought as he continued to wait and adjusted the duffel bag on his shoulder, wearing a short sleeve zip up hoodie, blue jeans, and his black shoes.

Though it was similar to what he wore years ago, Jaune made it a case to stick to a signature look and well, hoodies were his look.

'Probably not, but it's good to have hope.' he thought as he heard the sound of engines rumblings in the air.

Jaune lifted his head up to see a Polity aircraft descending down near his location, kicking up wind and dirt as it landed before him. After waiting for the engines to cool down enough, Jaune approached the aircraft with gusto and waited patiently as it's hanger door descended.

"Here I go, no turning back." Jaune mumbled to himself as the hanger door hit the ground, kicking up a small bit of dirt before he walked inside.

As he fully got on the transport, Jaune was meet with the faces of 3 different people on board. It wasn't hard to assume they were chose for this program like him but it still made him nervous, wondering what kind of experiences and lives they went through before ending up here. With a row of red sets on both sides, Jaune took a seat on the left next to one of the people, a girl who looked about his age wearing a long-sleeved hooded top in shades of green, black and white, accented by pink details and black pants. She had green eyes and long blonde hair that was paler than his own. On her shoulder was a small robotic animal, probably something she built or got from somewhere.

"Uh, hi. Jaune Arc." he said nervously as he sat his bag on the floor in front of him and held out his hand to the girl, who smiled brightly at him and shook it kindly.

"Cammie MacCloud, nice to meet ya!" she said in a cheery Scottish accent, her robotic pet eyeing him with curiosity.

After breaking the ice with Cammie and feeling the Polity aircraft beginning to take off, Jaune turned his attention towards the other two across from them. Not saying anything to them until he got a good look at them. The first one that caught his eyes was a tall female with pale green eyes, black hair that is dyed purple and styled in dreadlocks with a purple facial tattoo in a spiral design on the left side of their face. Her clothes gave off a mysterious feeling in the form of a black trench coat, combat boots, an amethyst crop top, and black gloves, all accented with purple. The last one was a tall man, looked Japanese, with broad-shoulderes and muscles, who has almost shoulder-length black hair tied up with a band. The clothes he wore were a leather kutte and various logos and designs on it, with red detailing on the back, lower chest and obliques. He wears black finger-less gloves, a large black belt, charcoal cargo pants and a black t-shirt. He also had a pair of black earring or something in his ears while holding a guitar case, showing he was a musician.

"Hi, nice to meet you guys." Jaune said as he waved at them, hoping to get along with his future squad.

"I suppose." the woman said in a Russian accent, giving a lazy wave was she crossed her arms.

"どのように子供をやっていますか?" the man said, letting Jaune assume he didn't know English but that's something his translator contacts could fix.

"How you doing kid?" they translated.

"Fine, thanks." Jaune said as he feel quite, not sure what else to say as they made their way towards a Polity base.

"So, tell us about yourself. Where you from, what do you like?" Cammie asked, wanting to get to know Jaune since he appeared to be more talkative than the other two.

This brought a smile to Jaune's features as he was glad that he wouldn't have to sit in awkward silence the whole trip and maybe get ride of some nervousness that still lingered in his mind. The trip took about a few hours and over that time, Jaune and Cammie learned quite a bout about each others. Jaune had learned the Cammie was the same age as him, 17 years, but was a lot smart then him since she told she was a wiz with electronic systems and pretty good engineer since she told him she built the little robot on her shoulder, Nugget was it's name. In turn Jaune told Cammie about his family, dealing with the reaction of having 7 sister was NOT easy, his self defense classes, and his graduation from high school as Valedictorian, though it pales in comparison to Cammie's smarts, it was still impressive. While Cammie and Jaune talked, the man and woman across from then just sat in silence; well the woman did since than man decided to take a nap for the rest of the ride to base. It wasn't until the pilot's voice came over the intercom to tell them they were approaching the Polity base they were flying to, the "Anvil" he called it.

"Looks like we're close, huh?" Jaune asked as Cammie looked out the window, hoping the base was in sight.

"I suppose so." Cammie replied before saying, "Woah. A big fucking Cairn right there."

"Cairn? There's a tomb out here?" Jaune asked as he turned to Camie, ignoring her language and focusing on the tomb.

"It's a pile of rock." she replied as she looked back at him before looking back out the window.

"Still though, those are usual made to be tombs or monuments for people." Jaune said, showcasing his knowledge that earned him his Valedictorian status at graduation.

"Well, it's not like the war is in our favor now, it is?" Camie replied as she turned back to him, Nugget moving on her shoulder to see Jaune as well.

"True but maybe we can change that." Jaune said as he turned from Cammie to the woman in purple and black sitting across from him.

"You think we'll be put on the front line?" she asked Jaune.

"Maybe, maybe not. But every soldier helps." Jaune said to her. "Even the smallest effort can make a big difference, you know?"

"I suppose that's true but I prefer a fight with a clear victory." she said as she crossed her arms, showing that she had experience and logic when it comes to wars.

"Any fight can be won if you put in enough training and effort." Jaune said as he leaned in, showing her his determination to fight and win as many battles as he can be a part of. "Isn't that why we're all here?"

"Just one of life's greatest mysteries, huh?" Cammie said as she turned her head to face the two across from her and Jaune, the man still sleeping.

"Whether on the battlefield or away from it, the Union is coming." she said as she turned her gaze to the floor until the man next to her accidentally bumped into her in his slumber induced state.

This cause the woman to shuffle and the man to wake from his slumber, gazing around at them before asking,

"Huh? Are we there yet?/え？ まだありますか?" he asked as he was now awake.

"We're somewhere for sure." Cammie said, causing every to look out the window at the location.

What meet their eyes was a large military base with a tower the looked like the top of an actual anvil, letting them know where it got the name.

'Wow." Jaune thought as aircraft zoomed into the base, passed it's mountain like terrain and landed.

They could feel the aircraft spin around before landing on the military pad, the bay door opening and showing then the outside as Cammie sat down. They all gathered their things and began their descent down the ramp as a man with gray hair and glasses, one Jaune recognized from the news as a well known scientist by the name of Dr. Rufus Weller, a robot that possibly belonged to Dr. Weller, a woman with tan skin and a serious face and a dark skinned man in a blue uniform that was somehow slightly see through. A hologram? Before Jaune could further question the see through man, Dr. Weller began calling up by name as we stepped down the ramp.

"Miss MacCloud, Iida-san, Miss Roma-Romaniz-" Dr. Weller said before stammering on the purple and black haird woman's name, causing her to stop on the ramp and stare at him before he gave up. "Valentina, Mr. Arc, welcome to the anvil. I am so glad to finally be meeting you all in person."

As finished his greeting, everyone got into a single fill line going from left to right. Cammie, who was carrying a green duffel bag and multicolored satchel; Iida-san, who was caring his guitar case and a red duffel bag; Valentina, who carried a purple duffel bag; and Jaune, who carried a little blue duffel bag, the same tone as his jeans.

Before any of them could reply, a Polity soldier walked up to them and flashes some sort of device in their face.

"One hell of a way to say hi!" Cammie said as she had to blink her eyes a few times after the flash.

"Yeah." Jaune added as he rubbed his eyes a bit.

"This is the small stuff. Just wait until later on." the dark skinned soldier said, giving his own little joke to Cammie's joke.

"Um, I was joking?" she replied.

"Well, he wasn't." the serious looking woman said as her arms were crossed. "If you would hand your gear to Caliban, he'll stow them in the hanger."

As the woman next to Dr. Weller said that, the robot behind Dr. Weller began to gather their belongings in a careful manner. As long as they didn't fight back.

"Hey, be careful!/こんにちは、気をつけて!" Iida-san shouted at Caliban, who was taking his guitar rather roughly before he let go and Cammie threw her duffel on the pile but kept her satchel.

"Hanger? Don't you mean the bunks?" Jaune asked as he placed his hands in his black hoodie pockets.

"Not if you choose not to stay." the woman corrected Jaune.

"Alright, anyone who wants to see what the mad scientist has to offer, say aye." Cammie said before raising her hand a bit before crossing her arms.

"Da!" Valentina said as she raised her right hand.

"Ah." Iida said as he raise his right arm as well.

"Yep." Jaune said as he took his right arm out of his hoodie pocket and raised it."

"Oh, my apologies, I'm getting ahead of myself now." Dr. Weller said as Caliban moved to take all their possessions to the hanger, beginning to pace up to the group. "On the Polity and ESU, we thank you for all the time you've given so far. The program you are about to participate in is just the beginning."

"Beginning? But you chose us, doesn't that mean we instantly pass?" Jaune asked, a little confused about this.

"You merely advanced to the next level, Mr. Arc." Dr. Weller said as he stopped in front of Jaune before continuing to pace. "And the only way to reach the other levels is by understanding each other and seeing eye to eye." he said as he stopped in front of Cammie and leaned a little to close in. "If it doesn't work out, you'll be sent home on the next transport."

"Wait, sent home?" Jaune said in shock, not thinking that they would just send him home after being the one to make first contact wit him.

"Home, he says." Cammie said as she got a downed look, home being a sensative subject for some reason.

"I was sent halfway around the world for this./私はこのために世界について送られました。" Iida said as he too was against the notion of going home.

"Plus we just go off the plane. Can we not refresh a bit?" Valentina asked as she didn't feel like sitting back on a long ride home.

"I'm afraid not because for each second lost, is a second your future slips away from you!" Dr. Weller said before turning around and walking away. "Don't let it! Grab it and claim it . Suit up, team! I'll be by shortly so we can begin."

"Suit up? Already?" Cammie asked as what just happened was a bit fast to process.

"Right? And why was he acting so giddy? Like he just got his birthday presents?" Jaune asked as he too was processing.

"So what? Are we his new pets?" Valentina asked.

"More like lab right." the tan serious woman said to them before walking away. "Follow me."

While they are starring at the woman leave, the dark skinned man from before suddenly appeared behind them, confirming that he was a hologram of a real person from somewhere else.

"If fine, she may seem like that, but you just need to get to know her." the man/hologram told them with an uneasy face.

"And?" Jaune asked.

"You'll find out she's just the same." he told them before they all decided to follow his friend.

As the group walked into the base, they could see Polity tanks with legs and guns and soldiers making repairs and adjustments to them all around them. Showing it was a fully functional military base that was ready for action. All of it was so awe inspiring to Jaune, seeing all of these people working hard to protect the innocent from the Union, just like his father did and his ancestors before him.

'Looks like it's my turn now.' Jaune said before catching Cammie looking around in awe as well.

"Wow! Wait, what's that?" she said as she caught something interesting in her eyes.

"What's what?" Jaune said before turning as well, seeing what looked like several giant robotic bodies, like from anime. "Wow."

"I'll...see you guys later." the hologram man said as he suddenly pixelated away.

Cammie and Jaune moved by some cargo and gazed up at them, interested by their human like appearance and what purpose they served. They would've stay there for as along as they could before Jaune caught Valentina moving towards them, possibly to tell them to keep moving with the group.

"Hey, Cammie, we better get moving. We don't wanna fall behind." Jaune said, making Valentina stop and nodded at him.

This let her know that he could see the importance of whatever this was like her.

"Huh? Oh, right!" she said before they both quickened their pace, catching up with the group.

As they caught up with the other three, the missed the opportunity to see an orange rectangular box with glowing lights being put into the chest of one of the giant metal bodies.

-Location, locker room-

After they arrived to the location their were lead to by the woman, who gave them her name of Yasamin or Yaz for short, they were each told to put on a special body suit unlike any other. They were form-fitting and and had a unique color for each of them, gray and black as accents, and glowing lights with the ESU symbol glowing on the chest of them. All in all, it looked to be high tech and unlike anything any kind of clothing before.

"I can say I've never worn something like this before." Valentina said as she had her left hand on her hip and gazed down at the purple suit.

"I think it's a little tight./少しきついと思います。" Iida said as he was adjusting his left boot portion of his red suit.

"Cool! What kind of material is this?" Cammie commented as she was looking over her own green colored suit. "Are this optical fiber circuits stitched right in? What do they do exact-"

"Please just suit up. Everything will be explained when the doctor come back to meet us." Yaz said after she walked out a a changing room, wearing a yellow suit with a gun holster on the left side.

"I think they're pretty cool." Jaune said as he was adjusting his blue suit. "Though, I'd kinda prefer a lighter blue."

As Jaune finished adjusting his wrist portion of his suit, he looked up to see Valentina, Iida, and Cammie starring at him for complaining about the simple coloring of his suit. Yasamin had left the room moments earlier, so she didn't hear his comment.

"What? A guy's gotta have his opinions but whatever, the suit's still cool." Jaune said as he held his hands up and walked out of the room, wanting to catch up Yasamin only to see her waiting outside of the locker room for them.

After everyone had changed into their suits, they all head to a sort of cafeteria/lounge, with a number of tables and chair around and an area with cushioned couches, chairs, and a coffee table. We had been waiting a few minutes for Dr. Weller to return and Cammie decided to be the first one to talk and try to start up a conversation.

"So, if we do get sent home, do we at least get to keep the suits as souvenirs?" Cammie asked as she was squatting in a cushioned chair with her feet on it.

"It would be cool if we did." Jaune said as he on a couch next to her with Iida and Valentina sitting on it was well.

"Wouldn't be much use if you didn't know what it did./あなたはそれが何をしたのか分からないでしょうか。" Iida said as he sat in between Jaune and Valentina, who had her feet up on the couch.

"It's prototype body armor that the ESU's been working on for the Vanguard, the soldiers in this base." Yasamin said as she looked back at them, leaning against a guard rail near some steps. "Everything else will be explained when the doctor arrives."

Right on que, Dr. Weller, his robot, and the hologram man walked into the room.

"AH! Good to see you all suited up and ready. Now I know you all have questions about the suits and what you need them for." Dr. Weller said as the group got up from their seats and walked towards him. "Well, you can put all of your questions to rest because once we get to the lab, all of them will be answered. Except for one question, one that I need to asked all of you."

"All of us?" Jaune asked in confusion.

"He means you guys, not Yaz and me." the hologrammed man said.

"Yes, thank you, Chase. Now, onto my question." Dr. Weller said before his smiled widened a bit and he adjusted his glasses. "Are all of you ready to make history?"

The question was mysterious and seemed out of place but they couldn't help but get this certain feeling. Something told them that whatever this doctor had planned, it really was going to go down in history and all of them were going to make.


	3. A Second Life

**(Sorry for wait. College, finals, summer work, all the business.)**

After a near silent walk to the lab, the only noise being Cammie's excited squeals at the lab and what the gen:LOCK project will look like, the group of people who hadn't been to the lab before were impressed by the technology that was there. It had been beyond anything any of them had seen before, with a few dropped jaws at the sight from Jaune, Cammie, and Kazu. As they continued to gaze around the lab, the new recruits caught sight of Chase but not the holographic Chase they had been walking with as the Chase they saw was barely half a body in a large glass tub of medical liquid.

"Whoa!" Jaune let out as he saw the real body of Chase, never in his life having ever seen or heard from the news or his family stories of a body in such brutal condition.

But before questions of Chase's real body condition could be respectfully asked, Dr. Weller sat down in a chair before the group and explained the technology concept behind gen:LOCK as well as certain "risks" that may occur if they weren't compatible. To say the least, the outcome if you weren't compatible was NOT that tasteful but they took the news as best as they could, some reacting less volatile than others.

"ARE YA LOONY?!" Cammie shouted as she stared at Dr. Weller in shock after hearing what would happen to them if they turned out to not be compatible before pacing back and worth as the rest of the group watch. "You grab us from our homes, tell us of a project that could change the world, sling us to the middle of the of nowhere, and now you tell us that this project only we could do can fry our brains like a fresh batch of sliced tatters from the deep fry if we aren't what you thought we where! And now you expect us to move on and jump in like eager rabbits into their den?! Did I miss anything, Mr. Longshanks?" she finished as she stopped in front of Dr. Weller and leaned forward a bit with her hands on her hips.

"He he, when you say it like that, it does make you nervous." Jaune said as he scratched his head a bit while standing next to Yaz on her left.

Dr. Weller paused for a bit from his seat before speaking again.

"Activate privacy windows, if you please." he said to the lab as a glass window became fogged and gray. "You have the gist, Ms. MacCloud but I would've done it with less sarcasm."

"I think sarcasm is needed, doc." Cammie said as she crossed her arms.

"Yeah, I kinda agree. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd rather return to my old unit./ええ、私はちょっと同意します。 そして、私がこれを言っているとは信じられませんが、むしろ私の古い部隊に戻りたいと思います。" Iida said as he was using a crate for a foot rest while stroking his chin.

"Dr. Weller, please report to..." the intercom said before Dr. Weller cut it off.

"In a minute!" he said back before gesturing to Valentina. "Valentina, you've been rather silent."

"Sometimes, it's more entertaining to watch the chaos." she said as Yaz took offence to that.

"This is entertaining to you?" Jaune asked with his left eye brow up, questioning how this situation could be funny like a comedy TV show.

"This is not meant to be fun." Yaz said as Chase and Jaune turned to her.

"Really? Look at all of us, all strange and unique individuals including the ghost you're standing next to." Valentina said as she referred to Chase's original body and the hologram next to Yaz.

"Whoa! That was a bit much." Jaune said as he held his hands up, stepping away from Valentina's general area a bit.

"Yeah, I gotta agree. I take offence." Chase said as he held up a finger to agree with Jaune.

"Made so by the "unique" professor and the defensive dog that might be a Union spy for all we know." Valentina said as she looked at Yaz, who narrowed her eyes at Valentina's harsh words and tone.

"Hey, now that's a bit much. She is not a spy." Jaune said as he took a step forward to Valentina.

"You have no right to say that!" Yaz said as she shot forward to Valentina.

"Yaz! Yasaman!" Chase and Dr. Weller said to try and stop her but failed.

The two female then got into a heated argument that was fueled by their rage and viewpoint in life. Though it was short, it was very explosive and revealed something that took everyone who didn't know for a bit of a loop. Yaz, though indirectly, said that she was a former union citizen, but why she defected was not said or mention since that news ended the argument and made the room silent for about two second before another hologram pixelated into the room.

"Dr. Weller, Colonel Marin has urgently requested you to meet her in ops." the hologram, an adult man with white skin, white hair and black sclera with cyan irises wearing the standard Vanguard officer's uniform, said with his arms crossed behind his back.

"If you ever mix into my lab without permission again, Able, I will rewrite your code so that you speak only in Gilbert and Sullivan lyrics!" Dr. Weller somewhat shouted and threatened at the program as he felt his boiling point was coming.

Able moved his gaze from Dr. Weller to Caliban, who just shrugged his robotic shoulder, before mixing away. Jaune couldn't help but silently chuckle at the threat as it would be pretty funny to see and entertaining to hear.

"Must be more of a Dylan fan." Dr. Weller said as he began to rise from his seat. "Well, not that this hasn't been delightful, I believe that colonel has words for me as well. Chase, your in charge and please don't make things worse. Not that could be." he said as he placed his right hand in his pocket and walked away.

The room was silent once more as the tension was still sort of thick.

"Well...that happened." Jaune said as he rubbed the back of his head, nervous that this team already felt like it was falling apart before it could even form.

"Yeah, it did. And I'm outta here. I prefer to keep my noggin." Cammie said as she tapped her head and walked to the door.

"Cammie, wait! You can't just-" Jaune said as he tried to stop her, only for Caliban to beat him.

Moving surprising fast for a robot, Caliban grabbed Cammie by her arms and held her up in the air to keep her from leaving. This came a surprise to the girl as she soon began to kick her legs to try and get out of the robot's grip.

"RAH! Put me down! I'm getting the fuck outta here! UH!" she screamed as her robot pet, Nugget, jumped onto Caliban's head and began to claw it.

"Well, that's one way to stop her." Jaune commented to Chase, who nodded in agreement as Yaz approached Cammie.

"No one is leaving until Dr. Weller returns." she said with her arms crossed as she look at Cammie.

The Irish girl ceased her kicking and scream as Caliban carried her to a seat next to Kazu, placed her down as Nugget jumped onto her shoulder and Yaz walked around them. Cammie then crossed her arms and pouted a bit like a child as Caliban moved away from her.

"Good try." Jaune said as he went to Cammie and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "But look on the bright side, this may workout without brains fried."

"Right but Val-/そうだけど、ヴァル-" Iida said before the purple haired woman cut him off.

"Valentina." she said, wanting to be call her full name.

"Valentina's might be right too. It's still day one yet we being held prisoner like we're in the Union./バレンチナもそうかもしれません。 それはまだ初日ですまだ私たちは連合で私たちのように囚人に握られています。" Iida said, causing a bit of ire from Yaz.

"If I were you, I'd say something different next." Chase said as he looked at Kazu with his arms crossed.

"Or what? You gonna jump out of your tank and smack me around?/または何？ あなたはあなたの戦車から飛び降りて私の周りをこわそうとしますか？" Iida said as he challenged the holographic Chase.

"Not me, more so my friend over there." Chase said as he pointed to Iida's right side, at Yaz.

The former Union women stared down at Iida, letting him know he's free to challenge her if he thinks he's tough enough. The result was a grimacing Iida as he felt somewhat frighten by just her stare alone.

"Oh! I would not wish that on my worst enemy." Jaune said as he leaned down to whisper it into Cammie's ear.

This got a small giggle out of the Irish girl, bringing her mood up a bit after her failed/denied attempt to leave.

"Look, we're all adults here. There's no need to start killing each other." Chase said as he tried to calm everyone down. "We need to come together and work as a team if we wanna have a chance to push the Union back."

"I did not come to fight a war." Valentina said as she sat and leaned against some crates. "I was told this would be simple scientific research."

"Well, technically yes, it is research...on how to be a better fight." Chase said awkwardly to try and convince Valentina she was not lied to."

Valentina shook her head before looking back at Chase.

"I was fighting against Union in the resistance well before New York. One way or another, I've fought my entire life and now, I'm done." Valentina said as she got off of the crates. "And if you wanna stop me from leaving, you'll need more than that mech of yours." she added as she placed her hand on her hip.

"You can't just leave." Yaz said as she turned to Valentina." With gen:LOCK on our side, we have a chance to turn the tide."

"More violence and more fighting, what will that solve? War changes nothing and the ones responsible are people themselves." Valentina said as Cammie looked down and Iida looked away but Jaune just continue to stare at Valentina. "No amount of fighting will change that and I've done my part. The world can tear itself up for all I care, as long as I can live as much as I can, drink as much as I can, and have no regrets before leaving an elegant corpse."

"So you're just gonna go AWOL and run off to a squalor to ignore the world's problems?" Jaune said as he stepped away from Cammie.

"Excuse me?" Valentina asked as she looked at the blonde, who had a certain fire in his eyes.

"Instead of just leaving and possibly dying at whatever place you're gonna party at, you have a chance to make sure that place is still stand so you can party after we win." Jaune said as he stared down the Russian woman. "But no, you're just gonna go and blind yourself while others do what's right, just because you're tired of fighting in a war the effects everyone, not just you. Seems pretty chicken shit, don't you think?" he finished with crossed arms and narrowed eyes.

Valentina narrowed her eyes right back at Jaune as she didn't like his tone of voice or what he was insinuating about her.

"I gotta agree with him, staying here could make a difference and save whatever place you were planning to party at." Chase said as Valentina turned her gaze to him. "It's better to stay and make a change instead of leaving and regretting it."

Valentina's gaze then softened as she looked away from the hologram, taking into consideration both Jaune's and Chase's words. As she did, Yaz took the opportunity to give her say.

"Look, it's fine if you don't trust me, at least trust the doctor." she said as Valentina regain her composure.

"I've learned to trust no one. It's why I've lived this long." Valentina replied as Cammie pointed to her mouth and pretended to blow chunks at her words.

This got short chuckle from Jaune as he saw what she was doing until the door to the lab opened, causing every to look towards it to see Dr. Weller.

"She's right, all of you are." he said as he walked towards them." If it's alright, I want to start over."

"You and me both." Valentina said in the same tone as before, earning another glare from Jaune at her attitude.

"Theories say a lack of just is a sign of a reasonable mind. And they right." Weller said as he tapped his head. "But now of all times, we need to start. You all are all we've got."

"Nice opening, doc." Chase commented as the doctor continued.

"The 6 of you out of the billions of people on Earth have been given to master technology like no other on the planet. And by doing so, you would not only open new possibilities but also turn the tide of the war." Weller said as he gestures to all of them.

"So, you want us to go all 'Luke Skywalker' on Union? Talk about a fairy tale." Cammie said as she gazed to the floor with her robotic ears/hair holder flopping down.

"I think it's more along the lines of'Han Solo' since it will probably have a big down before turning into an up." Jaune said, causing Cammie to shot a look of surprise at him.

"Han Solo?" she question, wondering why Jaune would compare a main character to a side character.

"I tell you what I told my bosses back in Japan./「私が上司に言ったことを日本に伝えます。" Iida said as he pointed to Weller with his right pointer and middle. "I don't fight just because you say so./あなたがそう言うからといって、私は戦うわけではない。" he finished before leaning back and crossing his arms.

"I would not have it any other way and if you desire to return to your homes, I will tell the colonel anything you wish." Weller said as he connected the tips of his fingers. "That you value your life more, that you were incompatible after all. I just ask in return that you try gen:LOCK just once." he finished while holding up one finger.

Though the speech did give them hope of getting out alive, the doubts were still lingering in their minds.

"Well, I can't say I trust a machine that could kill me." Cammie said as she gestured to the entry hub of a gen:LOCK unit.

"Still though, scared or not, we won't know what it'll do to us until we try." Jaune said as he stepped forward from Cammie's left side. "So, can you show us what it can do?"

Dr. Weller gave a sigh before turning to Chase, giving a smile.

"Chase, you're still mixing to us from your holon, correct?" he asked the holographic man.

"Affirmative, doc." Chase said as he began to mix away.

"Then inform our Vanguard friends know we're ready for the first lesson." he said before turning to Yaz. "Yaz, could you please upload and prepare the playground?"

"Right away, doctor." she said as she walked to her right towards a gen:LOCK pod.

"Caliban, if you would." Dr. Weller said to the robot.

The robot moved towards a interesting looking keyboard near the pod.

"She we use the hanger or the outside?" Yaz asked as she began to take off her jacket.

"Outside if you will. It's such a beautiful day, be a same to waste it indoors." Weller said as he went to another keyboard while the gen:LOCK recruits went over to Yaz's pod.

As they assembled around the pod, which began to connect light blue circuitry to her, Yaz waved her hand and a screen shifted next to her.

"ESU 2 to Anvil ground, prepare staging area one for holon movement." Yaz said to whomever was on the other side of the com.

"You are clear, ESU 2, to upload to Anvil ground. Offical are on standby." the man said as Yaz made the screen disappear.

"Copy that, ESU 2 is out." Yaz said before leaning her head up and giving a thumbs up to Valentina, Iida, Cammie, and Jaune.

The upload process soon began as Yaz appeared to be falling asleep before the inside of the pod began to glow along with her prototype armor. They waited for a few moments before turning to Dr. Weller as two screen popped up above his keyboard, showing the Anvil hanger and the yellow mech they saw when they came in. The holon soon began to move as it's eyes glow, signalling that it was active. It took some steps forward before turning to the screen and giving a thumbs up.

"That-that's...what the bullocks is that thing?" Cammie asked as she turned to Dr. Weller.

"A mecha?/メカ？" Jaune and Iida asked as they were surprised by it, immediatly thinking of the robots seen in anime and manga.

"I've never seen a drone that large before." Valentina said before turning to Dr. Weller. "And she's controlling it all the way from here?"

"No, Yasamin is the mech. Thanks to gen:LOCK, her mind is now inside of the mech." he said with pride at his creation.

"Huh, I, that-" Cammie tried to say as she leaned forward towards Weller.

"Awesome!" Jaune said with excitement at the giant robot and the though of controlling it. "How does this work?"

"You mean if it works." Cammie added as she lost her look of excitement.

"If you are a psychological and neurological match, it will indeed work." Weller said with sureness in his tone.

"But if it doesn't?/しかしそうでない場合は？" Iida asked as he and Valentina still had doubts.

"Well, it's like putting your brain in microwave." Dr. Weller said, repeating his warning from before in a quicker tone.

This caused everyone in the lab with him to recoil away from his chair as he spun it around.

"So, who wants to go next?" he asked with hopefulness as he look over everyone. "Iida-san?" he asked as he looked at Iida.

"Eh, call me Kazu./ええと、私は和を呼び出します。" he said as he wanted to stop being so formal.

This was soon meet with a giggle from Cammie, causing Kazu to turn to her on his left.

"Sorry, I just never meet someone with 'kazoo' for a name." Cammie said as she tried to stop giggling.

"KAH. ZUH." Kazu replied slowly to get her to understand.

"I know, I just said it." Cammie replied as she lost her smile and her electronic ears flopped to the left.

"No, Cammie. He means K-A-Z-U, not K-A-Z-O-O." Jaune said from Kazu's right, wanting to stop this silly feud over his name.

"Is there a difference?" she asked with genuine confusion.

Choosing to ignore the Irish girl, Kazu turned back to Dr. Weller and gave his answer.

"No thanks./結構です。" Kazu said.

"Ms. Romaneziziz? Uh, Valentina?" Dr. Weller asked after failing to get her last name right again.

"Hmmm, I'm afraid not, doctor. Not yet at least." she said as the doctor nodded in understatement.

"Alright then. Mr. Arc? Ms. MacCloud?" Dr Weller asked as the two blonde hadn't made their choices on the matter.

"Okay, I'll admit, I'm still scared of the negatives but no one ever got anything in life without taking risks." Jaune said as he mustered all the courage he could and smiled. "So, you can count me in doc."

Dr. Weller smiled at Jaune and nodded before everyone turned to Cammie, wondering what her decision was. A sigh escaped from her as she turned head away.

"Aw, christ! Really?!" she said in a low town before turning back to Dr. Weller. "Can I at least check your code for a few days, make sure everything is square?"

"As Mr. Arc stated, 'no one ever got anything without risks.' Or in other words, 'fortune favors the bold.'" Dr. Weller said with a smile.

As Cammie still wasn't up to the task completely, Jaune took the moment to walk to her side and place a comforting hand on her right shoulder.

"Look on the bright side, you won't be going in alone." he said as he gave her a smile to try and cheer her up while Caliban walked up behind her a bit.

Seeing no other choice or way out, Cammie let out a loud groan as she and Jaune began to walk towards the other gen:LOCK pods. Once inside the pods and hooked in, Jaune and Cammie simply laid and listened as Dr. Weller, Valentina, and Kazu watched them from a distance.

"Chase and Yasamin are ready and waiting downstairs to catch you both. Are you ready, Mr. Arc and Ms. MacCloud?" Dr. Weller said in a calming voice as they laid in the pulsing pods.

Cammie let out a sigh as Jaune took deep breathes to pump himself up for this, no turning back and no time for doubts.

"Alright, let's do this." Jaune said as he put on a determined face.

"Down the rabbit hole and into the den. Bring it on." Cammie said as she gained a determined face as well.

"Now, clear you minds, calm your breathing." Weller said as he went over to the console, Valentina and Kazu behind him as he sat in his chair. "Low heart rate and low blood pressure are your goals. Relax your minds and your bodies, just be."

Caliban was at the other console working and calculating to make their transfers safe and without trouble.

"You both should sense a certain pulse, a repeating occurrence at the edge of your minds that you have never experience before." Dr. Weller told them as Jaune and Cammie closed their eyes and searched for the pulse. "The pulse is gen:LOCK, searching for you with a desire to link with you. Do not fear it, got to it and accept it, bathe in it's light. Reach out to it and then, do not let it go."

"Kazo- I mean, Kazu." Cammie said with a quick correction, her eyes still closed as she was syncing with gen:LOCK.

"What?/何？" Kazu wondered as he looked at Cammie.

"If I don't make it, you can have my manga collection." Cammie said as a peaceful look came to her face.

"Seriously? I stopped reading manga years ago./真剣に？ 私は何年も前に漫画を読むのをやめました。" Kazu said with with a casual tone.

This news caused both Cammie and Jaune to shoot their eyes open to look at Kazu in shock.

"Are you mental?" Cammie asked in shock.

"Dude, you're never too old for manga!" Jaune said in equal shock before he and Cammie put their heads back and closed their eyes.

Kazu simply rolled his eyes before turning back to the console Dr. Weller was working at with Valentina. The process continues on as Valentina and Kazu began to gain looks of amazement as Jaune and Cammie let out breathes of relief before they entered gen:LOCK. It was like a roller coaster unlike anything ever made, a speeding spiral of light twisting and turning before colliding with a white light at the end. The process was both fast yet slow as the blondes opened their eyes, only to see they weren't in the lab anymore. They were in the hanger, with a strange type of screen over their eyes.

"Woah!" Jaune let out as he looked around, taking in the hanger from a new viewpoint until he set his eyes on something amazing.

It was the robots they saw when they first came in, except now he was seeing them from the same height instead of from the ground floor. Jaune soon caught the sight of another giant robot at the end, except it was glowing light green in certain parts instead of blue like his and moving like him. So this can only mean one thing, one amazing thing.

"It worked! It really worked.!" Jaune let out suddenly, surprising the mechanics nearby a bit as he began to slowly take a step before taking another. "This is so cool!"

This was unlike anything he had ever experienced before! And he hoped to experience it a lot more in the future. Jaune continued to take steps until he saw Cammie doing the same, although not as stable as him.

"Hey, Cammie." Jaune said as he picked up speed, getting the hang of the walking in a new body.

"Huh?" Oh, Jaune! Hey!" Cammie said before she stumbled, almost falling until Jaune caught her. "Thanks, that was a close one."

"Yeah." Jaune said as he helped her up. "And how about I help a bit? Since we're both new at this, we can balance each other."

"Good idea." Cammie said as he and Jaune placed their arms around the others shoulders. "Alright, let's go."

It was then they both moved slowly, taking slow steps towards the entrance of the hanger to feel the sunlight on their blank faces.

"This- this is-" Cammie started as she placed a hand over her face.

"Amazing?" Jaune finished for her, smirking if he had a mouth.

"Exactly!" Cammie let out before turning her gaze forward, her vision suddenly zooming in on workers along side combat jeeps and radioing in on the chatter.

Cammie then turned to a large aircraft carrier landing before focusing back to normal and looking down at the ground, just outside the hanger.

"It's just one step." Jaune said as Cammie turned to him. "We go this."

Cammie nodded to Jaune before taking a step forward onto the concrete ground, still a bit wobbly while Jaune's steps were more stable. Cammie began to sing an Irish nursery song as she step forward until she slip and almost fell forward, dragging Jaune with her until a hand quickly grabbed her and pulled her up. The pair turned to see another holon, one that bulky like the one Yaz went into except this one had blue parts instead of yellow.

"Chase?" Jaune asked as the holon nodded and Yaz came towards them.

"Jesus Christ, how tall are we?" Cammie asked as she moved away from Jaune, feeling that she could stand enough on her own.

"About 4 stores but you'll adjust." Chase said to them.

"I hope, this is awesome." Jaune said as he gazed around his body. "Though the legs feel a bit off."

"Right?! I feel the same." Cammie said as she looked at her robotic legs.

"You both have new centers of gravity. It'll take time to adjust, as Chase said." Dr. Weller told them through a radio receiver in their heads. "I was only given enough time for one frame to go for all of them with some ratios with some style touches of my own. Give it time."

Things seem to be going well until Cammie suddenly gazed down at Jaune's body and her's.

"Ah! We're naked! Woah!" Cammie said as she covered her crotch and eyes. stumbling back until Jaune caught her.

"I got you. And though, technically we are naked, we're not at the same time." Jaune said as he helped Cammie stand straight.

"Whose next, Dr. Weller?" Yaz asked as back in the lab, Kazu and Valentina had looks of amazement at the scene showing Jaune and Cammie with Chase and Yasamin.

At the second the question was asked, both the Russian woman and Japanese man raised their hands as Dr. Weller spun his chair around to see their faces. Meanwhile back in the hanger, Valentina and Kazu had mixed into their holons and moved around it bit.

"This feeling...these muscles. It's amazing!/この気持ち…これらの筋肉。 すごい！" Kazu said as his holon glowed a sort of reddish green, flexing his right arm so the muscle fiber like material bulges.

"What you feel is thanks to a variety of feedback indicators spread all throughout the holon." Dr. Weller said through the com as Kazu continued to flex his holon body.

"Hm, I can definitely work with this." Valentina said as her holon gave off a purple glow and moved with surprising ease.

"System are looking good, cyber attacks are non existent." Dr. Weller said as Kazu and Valentina began to walk outside. "Everybody please gather outside for formation and by the way, happy second birthday everyone."

Dr. Weller was soon facing his console with a sort of warning page popping up. 'Set Maximum Upload Count Remaining, Confirm?' it said as the doctor pushed 'yes.'

"And as many safe returns are we can get." he said in a low tone.

Outside the Anvil on the hanger, 5 holons (1 senior and 4 newbies) were walking in between large structures towards the field they would be working in.

"Welcome to your new bodies, everyone." Dr. Weller said through their coms as Cammie was still having trouble walking, but didn't want Jaune's help so she could get use to it on her own. "Completely impervious to organic damage since there are no organics to damage. Including a variety of benefits to run your mind as code itself."

The group came to a stop as Yaz turned around to face them, seeing Valentina cross her arms, Cammie stumbling to stop until Jaune grabbed her shoulders to stabilizer in place, and Kazu simply stopping with his arms to his sides.

"Though we have much more to go over, that can wait until tomorrow. But today, as with any newborn child, go play." Dr. Weller said as Chase made himself known.

"Hey, Jaune, think fast!" he said as he threw something towards the blue holon.

Jaune, who was on Kazu's right side, quickly turned around to see something pointy coming to his fast, so he quickly pulled his hands up and caught it before it hit him. He moved the object away from his visual optics and gazed at to notices it's shape, along with the others.

"A football?/サッカー？" Kazu asked as he turned around in Chase's direction and saw the object in Jaune's hands was indeed shaped like a football but made of metal in a spirling motion with several gaps in it.

"No, man. Footballs are round, not pointy." Cammie said as she turned and made a circle motion with her fingers.

"Same name, different shape." Jaune commented as he tossed the american football up a few time.

"Got a baseball?/野球をした？" Kazu asked as he motioned to Chase, who was standing near a crate of metal the had a small ball made of metal like the football Jaune caught.

Chase grabbed the baseball the threw it to Kazu, who instantly caught it without trouble. It was no later than a few minutes that Chase, Kazu, and Jaune were in a makeshift game of baseball with Chase as the pitcher, Kazu as the one up to bat using a girder, and Jaune as the catcher crouching behind Kazu.

"Easy out! Easy out!" Jaune said as he hit his right fist into his left hand before putting it behind his left, ready to catch the ball if Kazu strikes out.

"Hey, batter, batter. Swing, batter." Chase said as he took a professional throw and let the ball fly.

Though Jaune was ready to catch, Kazu managed hit the ball in a sort of home run until it ended up hitting the top of a combat jeep, breaking the glass, setting of the alarm, and startling the workers next to it. The alarm was loud enough to be heard from there as Kazu gaped at it before placing his right hand at his head and the girder behind his back.

"Oooh, hope they have that insured." Jaune commented as stood up from his catcher position.

"Valentina, you're it!" Cammie said as she snuck behind her and tapped her back before running away.

"Little bunny!" she replied in a challenging and irritated tone before running after her.

The chase didn't last long as Yaz suddenly speed past them, gliding over the pavement like she was wearing skates. Which, it turns out, she was since wheels did pop out of her feet.

"Skates?!" Jaune said in shock as he saw Cammie lift her foot up to see, only for the other foot to pop out the wheel and make her fall on her back.

This got a laugh out of Jaune as Kazu returned to his batter position, ready to get another home run that hopefully didn't end in another jeep collision. Jaune quickly turn to see Chase winding up to throw and quickly return to catcher position. As the ball flew through the air to Kazu, it suddenly exploded into pieces with purple smoke coming off right as Kazu swung.

"Huh?" Kazu let out as he looked around before catching the sight of 3 Vanguard walker tanks coming in their direction.

The group of 6 holons soon assembled in together as Dr. Weller spoke through the coms again.

"Dear recruits, say hello to your new drill instructors. From right to left, Mr. Jodie Brennan, Mr. Leon August, and Ms. Miranda Worth. After today, they will teach you all you need to know of weapons, team tactics, and paying attention if you would, Ms. Cammie." Dr. Weller said as he saw Cammie still gazing at her feet for her skates.

"Oh, sorry." Cammie said to Valentina and Yaz on her right before turning to Jaune, Kazu, and Chase on her left. "Sorry."

"With their years of training expertise, they will be taking time out of their busy schedules to train you all up. So please, treat them with respect." Weller said as Kazu, Cammie and Jaune walked up to them.

"Guess play time is over./プレイタイムが終わったと思います。" Kazu said as he still held the steel girder bat.

"They're gonna be using those things, to train us?" Cammie said as she bent down and pointed to the walker tanks.

"Yeah but you gotta admit, those things look like they're really packing." Jaune said as he crossed his arms at looked at the walkers, seeing the amount of weapons they had on them.

"You got a good eye, kid." Jodie, a man of above average height with blue eyes who sports spiky black hair, a wiry mustache and a small goatee and soul patch, said as he could see that Jaune knew a threat when he saw.

"Okay, recruits, normally we'd use simulators for training but in your case, it'd be pointless." Leon, an adult man of average height and build with neck-length brown hair with lined dark blue eyes and a five o'clock shadow beard, said as he made his walker moved forward. "The real training starts tomorrow."

"But that doesn't mean we can't have some fun today." Jodie said as a smile came to his face.

"The game of choice is 'Capture the Flag.'" Miranda, an adult woman with dark eyes, neck-length brown hair, and a heart-shaped face with a narrow chin, jagged scar that runs from the underside of her jaw on the right side of her face down to her neck and an athletic body build, said. "Here's the rules, if just one of you new recruits can get past us and touch the flag pole over there, you win." she continued as she turned her walker's gun to point at the red flag on a metal pole behind her, Jodie, and Leon. "But if we hit you, you're out."

"Simple enough." Jaune said as his fellow recruits thought the same thing.

"The starting line is over there behind, spread out and get ready." Miranda said as they all turned around and moved to the line.

The path to the flag was a straight lane with 4 structures on each side, two white ones on the left side while the rest were a light brown. Leon pointed his walker's left gun in the air before shooting and signalling to start. The recruits took off running with in a sort of diamond formation with Kazu up front in the middle, Cammie and Valentina on his sides, and Jaune in the back behind Kazu. As the group approached their teachers, the first three suddenly found themselves shot at with purple smoke pellets. Jaune stopped for a moment before pressing on, trying to move for cover until he too was hit with smoke pellets.

"Okay, let's try that again." Leon said as he massaged his head in his cockpit. "And like your friend in the back tried, you can use the structures to the sides as cover."

Kazu and Valentina said nothing as they turned around while Jaune gave a sigh of defeat and Cammie let out a groan with popping up a peace sign. And so, as Yaz and Chase watched from behind, the 4 recruits tried a number of times to get to the flag with little success. They tried waiting until they got a chance, they tried blitzing, and even sneaking past but it all ended the same, with failure. Though the two closet tactics to winning. One was using shields, Kazu using Cammie and failing while Jaune had ripped two panels off a structure he was hiding behind and charging, Jaune had gotten a lot closer than Kazu but still failed as Miranda launched a missile at his feet and throwing him off balance before getting shot in the face. The second was when Valentina used a carrier truck as cover and snuck by them, almost making it to the flag before Jodie reversed his guns and shot her in the back.

"Hahaha! Good trys guys but not good enough." Jodie said as Chase let of a sigh of failure at this futures teams expense.

"Alright, I think the recruits have had enough for now. Let's pack it up." Leon said as he leaned on his right arm in the walker cockpit.

"Oh no, the game ain't over yet." Chase said as he moved to the starting line while the recruits moved to some crates to rest. "We gotta give em a show?"

"Pardon me?" Leon asked, curious to what Chase meant.

"I wanna show them what they can do after their trained." he answered while cracking his holon fingers. "Mind if I step up?"

"What are you planning?" Yaz asked as she walked up to Chase.

"Nothing, it's fine." Chase said as he turned back to the trainers.

"Oookay. Let's see what you got." Leon said, encouraging the idea as Miranda rolled her eyes at it. "Everyone, return to positions."

Miranda, Leon, and Jodie readied their walkers as Chase got into position, ready to show them just what a trained gen:LOCK soldier can do.

"Alright, let g-" Jodie tried to say before Chase started running, not waiting for him to finish.

Miranda, Leon, and Jodie met the challenge and began to fire on Chase, but the holon was far quicker and more experience than they thought as he could dodge their smoke pellets with ease. Chase then used his leg to bound off one of the structures and reach out to grab a missile, one that was suppose to hit him, and threw it back at Leon, eliminating him from the game. Miranda saw this and sharpened her focus, taking this seriously now. Chase then moved quickly as he used a surface pipe to leap over Miranda and used her as a shield as Jodie tried to fire on him, eliminating her and leaving only Jodie. With only one left, Chase activated his skates and shot towards Jodie, swerving from left to right so he could get a lock on him and causing Jodie to panic and shut his eyes as he braced himself but that was what Chase wanted as he came to a sliding stop and grabbed the guns on Jodie's walker and prevent him from shooting. The Vanguard man then opened his eyes to see Chase giving him a challenging glare while shaking his head back and forth, telling him 'you don't want none of this.'

"Yah!" Chase let out as he pushed the walker down and moved to the flag pole.

After grabbing it, Chase went back to Jodie and stuck the flag right in front of the downed walker to show his future team his flawless victory as the flag danced in the wind. Back with the others, they were very impressed as they just saw what they were truly capable after training and we're willing to put in the effort.

"Color me impressed./色私は感動しました。" Kazu said as he turned to Jaune and Cammie, sitting on the carrier container next to his while Yaz stood behind it.

"Defiantly." Jaune commented as Valentina watched from behind him.

"Alright now, I don't want to get even close to exceeding up time, which is something we'll go over tomorrow. Let's call it a day, team." Dr. Weller told them through their coms.

After the doctor finished his announcement, the team of holons suddenly heard air being cut as they looked up to see three carrier crafts coming into base.

"Alright, time to clear out. Striders, back to the hanger for maintenance." Leon said as his walker, now known as a Strider, moved to the hanger with Miranda and Jodie moving as well. "Gen:LOCK team, do...whatever you to reset."

The carriers soon landed with several military trucks and jeeps moving around them, opening their hangers to revealed wounded soldiers and survivors from a another battle with the Union.

"It's so different from seeing it on the news feeds." Cammie said as she sat next to Jaune, who was at her left.

"You get use to it." Valentina said from the other side of Jaune, who had no comment as he watched them come off the aircraft.

Jaune could relate to how they felt, to be broken both physically and spiritually, after an encounter with the Union. It was the whole reason he was he, the reason why his mother and father were gone. He wanted to make a difference, to save lives, and to stop people like the Union from hurting innocent people. To be a hero. Jaune was soon brought out of his silence when he heard a sound and turned to his right, seeing a hologram of Dr. Weller appear in between him and Cammie.

"Pointless aggression, revolting greed, uncontrollable hate." he said as he too watched the aircraft. "To have these images from the news thrust at you, day in and day out, you become acquainted with it. Grow numb to it, like they want, so you become someone different or blind yourself with distractions to ease your mind from all the evil in the world and accept that there is nothing you can do to stop it. Leading you to despair from the lack of control."

Dr. Weller then put his hands in his pockets as everyone continued to listen to his words.

"To reengage in the world, to take back whatever control was taken from you. "You realize you don't need to save the world, you just need to fight hard enough to make a difference wherever you are." Dr. Weller said with a flourish of his left hand. "With every opportunity life hands you, you must make the best of it is all I ask."

"Your words make it all sound so easy." Valentina said as Dr. Weller began to walk, causing everyone to stand and follow.

"It never is. My hopes for gen:LOCK were to widen the ways of communication, humanities' understanding, improve the condition of a human itself, countless potential for countless fields. And the first thing we do...is weaponize it." Dr. Weller said as he stopped walking and everyone gather in a half circle around him. "But if we can use it to fight, maybe we can discover a new way to use it. To save life, protect countless who cannot protect themselves, buy time for others to win this war and bring back peace. After that, there is no limit to what we can achieve."

"Such as creating a better peace than before." Yaz said from the front of Dr. Weller, arms behind her back.

"And making sure the mistake the started the war with the Union, doesn't happen again." Jaune said as Yaz was on his left and Cammie was on his right, holding her arm in a bit of worry.

"I still say you'd have to correct humanity as a whole." Valentina said as she stood next to Cammie, her right hand on her hip.

"Yeah, but how does one solve evil itself?/ええ、しかし、どのように悪を自分で解決するのですか？" Kazu asked as Chase, standing to his right, turned to him.

"I don't think you can, but you can fight against it when it shows itself." he said, willing to fight against any evil that rears it's head. "And with Dr. Weller, we can help more than anyone ever could before."

"To me, gen:LOCK is but the next step in humanity's evolution, and you all have the chance to be the first to take it." Dr. Weller said as he gestures to all of them. "Do you wish to see where that road takes up?"

"You guys in?" Chase asked as he gazed at Kazu, Valentina, Cammie, and Jaune.

"We gonna take the Union head on, in our own ways?/私たちは独自の方法で北軍を率いるつもりですか？" Kazu asked as he raised his right arm and closing his hand.

"More so or less." Dr. Weller told him as Kazu lowered his hand.

"Will this include rescue missions?" Valentina asked.

"Definitely and that won't be all you do-" Dr. Weller said before Cammie suddenly knelled before him.

"Will we get new toys?" she asked, excited about what kind of upgrades and weapons they would receive in the future.

This got a short chuckle from Jaune as it was nice to see Cammie asking to differently from when she wanted to leave not long ago.

"As many as you we can build you." Dr. Weller answered.

"Aye!" Cammie shouted as she rose up and put her right arm out. "Put it in, team!"

No else seemed to put their arm in, except Jaune since this would've been a great team forming moment. Valentina rose her a arm on top of theirs, thinking that she would join in the moment until she moved their hands down at the awkward moment the rest of the team apparently saw.

"Seriously? This could've been a beautiful moment, guys." Jaune said as he patted a slightly sad Cammie's back.

"It looks like we got a team in the making." Chase said as Cammie suddenly perked up.

"We gotta celebrate!" Cammie said while giving finger guns to the air.

"Up for a beer?/ビールは？" Kazu asked as he felt a party drink was necessary.

"No, I mean we should game together!" Cammie said as they all began to walk back to the hanger. "There's this level in 'Siege 2' in been trying to clear-"

"You play 'Siege?' Count me in!" Jaune said as he raised his fist to the challenge.

"Aw sweet! You can back me up while I fight the dragon..." Cammie went on as Dr. Weller smiled at them, mixing back to the lab were he had a guest watching him.

This guest was the colonel of the base, Raquel Marin. She was an older woman of average height with graying hair tied into a bun, dark eyes and tanned skin. She was wearing a standard Vanguard uniform consisting of black shoes, dark trousers and a matching jacket over a black undershirt. with epaulettes on her shoulders, the left baring the Vanguard symbol, and the right one baring the Polity.

"I see you didn't tell them about the six month time limit." she said with her arms behind her back, reminding the doctor about the time the Polity had given until they were theoretically pushed out of North America.

"No, I couldn't pressure them into doing it." Weller said as he turned around in his chair. "They have to chose from themselves, not out of guilt."

"Interesting, ha." Colonel Marin said with a quick laugh. "Don't think I didn't see you placed them right were the Medi-Vac Carriers were unloading."

"Oh, really? Didn't come to mind." Dr. Weller said as he stood up, playing the fool on placing his team near the landing pads on purpose.

Suddenly, Able mixed into the room to deliver a message. Without permission once again, as Dr. Weller warned, so...

"Colonel, you got a message from a Modern Major General." Able said in a musical voice, making it clear that Dr. Weller's threat from earlier was serious.

Dr. Weller then walked past Colonel Marin and Able while whistling the same tune that Able just sang.

"Oh, what is going on in my base?" Colonel Marin asked as she saw the lab door open and close as the doctor walked out.

**(This is a wrap up for episode 3. Hope you enjoyed, read you next time.)**


End file.
